Social media users are mesmerized by ‘terrifying and beautiful’ timelapse video of dead deer decomposing over five days
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Social media users call a timelapse of the progressive stages of a rotting deer in five days “both terrifying and beautiful.”
The gruesome affair began just hours after the fawn was killed by a passing vehicle as its body froze from breaking down cells and stopping the production of ATP, the source of energy needed for movement.
Maggots and flies are then seen crawling over the carcass and feasting on the flesh and tissue of the dead animal.
Bacteria and fungi will break down the remaining tissue, but this process takes at least 60 days and leaves behind bones that bleach in the sun.
The timelapse was shot by cameraman Owen Reiser, known for his stunning nature videos for the BBC and National Geographic.
A cameraman shared a gruesome time-lapse showing the progressive stages of a decaying deer over five days. The dead animal was found on a road in Missouri and was likely hit by a vehicle
“I found the hit deer on a fairly busy road near my home in St. Louis, Missouri,” Reiser told DailyMail.com.
“I do a lot of timelapse professionally for natural history programs (NatGeo, PBS, BBC, etc.) and have always thought filming the natural decomposition process would be fun.”
His brother Oliver helped him pull the deer off the road and into the woods, where he set up camera equipment and began shooting.
“The timelapse only lasted five days, which was quite a shock β I expected the whole process to take at least two weeks,” Reiser said.
July’s hot and humid heat must have kicked things up a notch. It was to this day the worst smelling thing I’ve ever come across.
“The flying maggots crawled onto my tripods and actually completely ruined one of my cameras by covering it in nasty fly fluid that seeped into the shutter mechanism.”
Instagram account Nature is metal shared the science behind the rotting process.
Owen Reiser pulled the deer off the road into the woods where he set up camera equipment and began photographing its progress
The first stage of progression is known as the ‘fresh phase’ when the heart stops, the oxygen in the blood decreases and cells begin to break down.
As the cells break down, the red blood turns bluish-purple, changing the color of the body.
And ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, stops producing. This is why most road death carcasses are stiff after death.
The video then captured the bloated stage, when the fawn’s gut bacteria devoured it from the inside out.
As this continues for up to 72 hours, gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are produced that cause the body to swell and expand.
And the gases provide the unpleasant smell.
During this phase, the organs and tissues begin to liquefy.
Maggots can be seen crawling over every inch of the lifeless body, devouring the once shiny brown fur coat and leaving behind only bones and some tissue
This stage led to the fawn’s body cavity rupturing, exposing its internal organs and releasing fluid into the environment that attracted maggots and other bloodthirsty insects such as flies.
Flies use the body as a breeding ground to lay larvae, as the decaying flesh provides an excellent source of food for their offspring once they hatch.
The timelapse shows what appears to be black bugs eating the animal in moments.
Maggots feast on the tissue and remaining flesh of the deer, sucking it all down to the bone.
βAfter about five days, the body continues to rot. The maggots continue to feed and grow, eventually leaving the carcass to pupate and mature into adult flies,” Nature is Metal told.